Missing TPHS graduate died in Nice

The Del Mar man and UC Berkeley student who was in Nice, France on July 14 was confirmed July 17 as one of those killed in the Bastille Day terrorist attack, according to university officials.

Nicolas Leslie, who graduated from Torrey Pines High School, had been studying in Nice as part of Cal’s Study Abroad program. He was identified recently by the FBI as among the 84 people killed.

Leslie, 20, was one of 85 participants in a summer entrepreneurship program. Unaccounted for since the truck attack in which another 200 were injured, he had been the subject of an extensive search by university staff, local officials and family.

His death was reported to campus officials by the FBI, which was notified by its French counterparts.

“This is tragic, devastating news,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said. “All of us in the UC Berkeley family, both here on campus, and around the world, are heartbroken to learn that another promising young student has been lost to senseless violence.”

“I join Nick’s parents, friends and the entire campus community in condemning this horrific attack, and in mourning the loss of one of our own,” Dirks said in a statement.

Leslie, an environmental sciences major, had been planning to begin studies at the Haas School of Business in the fall. Counselors were on the ground in Nice, where some 60 Berkeley students remain, and were available to speak with students on campus.

A vigil had been scheduled to take place at 4:30 p.m. July 18 on the Cal campus at Sproul Plaza.